During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Joanne Whalley sat down to discuss the legacy of her Willow character and more on what to expect in the sequel. Whalley plays Sorsha, who, in the 1988 film, is the daughter of the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). However, she ends up falling in love with Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and switches to the side of good.
Sorsha was inspiring to many young women because she wasn’t a damsel in distress, and what Whalley liked about that was how it wasn’t a big deal. It was just, “Well, there’s a monster in front of me. I’m going to have to deal with it.” It’s not like, “Now I’m going to have to use my special strength, and I’m an extraordinary [person].” It was very practical, and Whalley loved that about her.
“What I loved about her in the beginning is that she was a combination of contradictions, as we all are, in that she was quite fierce and capable and strong and vulnerable and romantic. We’re whole human beings,” said Whalley.
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What’s Next for Sorsha
While Whalley couldn’t say much for fear of spoilers, she was able to confirm that yes, Sorsha’s still a badass in the upcoming Disney+ series. Besides that, she’s older and wiser now but carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. So Sorsha’s a little world-wear and struggling under that burden but will deal with things as best as she can.
“It was pretty much there. I don’t remember needing to have conversations like, ‘There’s something wrong with this character.’ It was a gift of a job. The seeds were there. It’s all there. The old saying, when it’s good, it’s all in the script. The actors are there to illuminate it, and one particular personal attribute might bring something else in that the scriptwriters were not necessarily conscious of, but it starts with a good script.”
Sorsha’s family is going to be a big part of the sequel. Besides addressing the situation between Sorsha and Madmartigan, their children will also come into play. According to Whalley, like in a family business, the younger ones have to step forward into the framework their parents have set for them. That’s when your parent-child relationship doesn’t disappear but evolves and shifts into a new dynamic.
“There are things looming for the people as a whole. There’s stuff in her family relationships that are proving difficult. There’s something she might not have been completely straightforward about [in terms of] the level of honesty between her and her kids. When you’re the carer, when you’re the person in charge and responsible for everyone, you can’t share everything. They have no one to rely on if they think you’re going to crumble. You have to carry it and carry it for everyone.”
And even as an older person, Sorsha’s still full of contradictions. She’s a mom who can go out and kill monsters with a sword and likes watching the odd Hallmark movie. “Everyone’s so concerned about slapping labels on things and will limit themselves to one shade of something, one behavior trait or one trademark look.” Whalley believes that denies the spectrum of things that are there.
“There’s shifts, and there’s gear changes, there’s passing on of things, there’s the light of truth that shines in on what you might have been protected from for your own good. These things get revealed as you grow older and you start to see your parents in a different light, and you start to maybe understand what they did, because that’s what seemed to be the right thing at the time, but no one can have the foresight. It’s a very different world, but it’s the same thing we all go through.”
“I love the things that are contradictory in people, because that’s when you see that they’re human beings. Her romantic streak hasn’t gone anywhere. The idea of how she wants to make the kingdom safe, that’s a romantic notion. The world that she wants to pass onto her children, that’s romantic. On a personal level, she’s never lost that romantic streak that made her fall head over heels in love with Madmartigan. She’s a whole person, and that’s why I love her.”
